


Track 4 - Not the Best Policy

by annabeth



Series: Dishonest & Unhealthy [2]
Category: Gravitation
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Dishonesty, Infidelity, Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24256411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth/pseuds/annabeth
Summary: "I got home an hour ago," Shuichi said, his normal puppy-dog expression now more like hang-dog. "Where were you?"
Relationships: Shindou Shuuichi/Yuki Eiri
Series: Dishonest & Unhealthy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750990
Kudos: 14





	Track 4 - Not the Best Policy

**Author's Note:**

> written for "honest" on my Get Your Words Out Yahtzee prompt set #4. This is a direct sequel to "Inexplicable."

Yuki stowed his coat in the front hall closet, hanging on the hook beside the umbrella he'd forgotten when he'd gone to Tohma, and slipped out of his shoes. It was tomb-silent in their large, airy apartment, and he tiptoed towards the bedroom, intent on climbing into bed and falling asleep before Shuichi got home. But when he opened the door, Shuichi was sitting cross-legged on the bed, his arms folded across his chest.

"I got home an hour ago," he said, his normal puppy-dog expression now more like hang-dog. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk," Yuki said, but he knew the ends of his hair were dripping onto his t-shirt, leaving little darkened circles on the fabric. Shuichi speared him with a look that clearly said, _I know you're lying._

"With no umbrella, in this rain?" he asked. He pointed to Yuki's face. "Your face is all red. Why?" Now his look read, _I don't trust you._

"I was running," Yuki said. "It started to rain, as you so astutely pointed out." He dug his fingernails into his palms; he couldn't tell Shuichi that he'd gone to Tohma for the type of cheap fuck that, despite being tawdry, was the only thing that could—even temporarily— _fix_ Yuki. Shuichi would ask too many questions. Shuichi would beg for answers and cry if he got truthful ones. Unlike Yuki, Shuichi was incapable of lying or hiding his feelings.

Which Yuki pitied him for; how did he survive without being able to dissemble? While Yuki would never survive if he didn't have his façades and lies to hide behind. If he didn't have his illicit trysts with his brother-in-law or his secrets, he would simply turn inside out and disappear. He was a mirror: whomever he was with, he reflected them back to themselves. He was a liar: he hid his feelings and pretended that what he felt was the truth. And now Shuichi's face was falling, his eyes were taking on that haunted quality they got whenever he suspected Yuki was lying to him.

Which Yuki was, of course.

"Yuki," Shuichi began, fidgeting with the ring he wore. "I waited for an hour. Do you really expect me to believe that you were running, in the rain, for an hour?"

"Yes," Yuki said. "It's the truth." It wasn't, of course; it was a bald-faced lie. But Shuichi studied his face for long moments before he brightened.

"Yuki," Shuichi said, pleating the blanket with his fingers, "I know you're keeping something from me. You can tell me! I'll help you! Whatever you feel like you can't say..." Now his expression said, _I do trust you._

His apparent anger wiped away, his eyes began to sparkle manically and he jumped off the bed, dashing over to Yuki, who stood as stoically as he was able, suffering Shuichi's sudden display of affection, the arms that embraced him, the lips that kissed his collarbone and probably tasted Tohma's sweat.

How could he tell Shuichi that his affection meant nothing to Yuki? That there was only one person whom he was willing to accept it from, and it wasn't Shuichi?

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Yuki broke away from Shuichi's grasping hands. "I'm going to bed."

"At least shower first!" Shuichi cried. "I'll get in with you, hang on, let me just get—"

"Shuichi," Yuki said, turning. "I went to Tohma. I'm not going to shower with you, because I still have his come dripping out of my ass."

Shuichi's crestfallen face reinforced for Yuki the idea that honesty was never the best policy.


End file.
